Chelsea vs Stoke City Preview

January 25, 2014
By: Deke Hardman

Jose Mourinho

The weekend’s round of FA Cup ties concludes at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon when seven times winners Chelsea host 2011 defeated finalists Stoke City.

Jose Mourinho’s men go in to the game on the back of six straight victories, a run which includes the 2-0 win at Derby County in the third round earlier this month.

Fernando Torres has been ruled out with a knee injury so Demba Ba is set to get his chance leading the line, while Juan Mata will not feature as his move to Manchester United edges ever nearer.

Ba, who has just three goals so far this season, is 5.5 (9/2) with Bet 365 to open the scoring ahead of Frank Lampard, who is a 7.0 (6/1) shot with the same firm.

Chelsea are odds on to win the match, with most betting companies offering a price of 1.25 (1/4), while Stoke are widely available at 13.0 (12/1). The draw is 7.0 (6/1) with Bet 365.

Mark Hughes’ men’s only victory in their last six games was the win over Leicester City which booked their place in the fourth round three weeks ago.

Goalkeeper Asmir Begovic could return after missing the last six matches with a broken finger while on loan forward John Gudetti will be assessed ahead of the game following illness, though defensive duo Andy Wilkinson and Robert Huth are both out injured.

Joint top scorers Peter Crouch and Charlie Adam are priced at 15.0 (14/1) and 21.0 (20/1) with Bet 365 to get the first goal of the game respectively.

Stoke secured a shock win when the sides met at the Britannia Stadium last month, a game which was the last that Chelsea lost inside ninety minutes while Ashley Cole was the unlikely hero the last time the sides met at Stamford Bridge in September 2012.

With the Blues so dominant, both in this competition and at home in general, you may want to take advantage of Sky Bet’s offer of 2.5 (6/4) for them to win by three or more goals this time around while a straight forward 3-0 home win is available at 8.5 (15/2) with 888 Sport.

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